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College residence with basic 2-bedroom suites, common kitchens, laundry room and free parking
Pros
- Free amenities: wired Internet, parking, local calls, pet stays
- Some found clean and spacious rooms
- Location was well liked for access to shopping, restaurants, public transit, and the highway
- Staff were kind and helpful said guests
- Ample and secure free parking
Cons
- Housekeeping was irregular and did not always clean rooms well
- Wi-Fi unstable and poor according to guests
- Parking lot is quite far from the building
- Guests often had difficulty locating the building
- Many guests said the double beds did not fit two persons and were really small
- AC did not always work said guests
- Some guests were disappointed to find this was not a typical hotel property but a college dormitory and thought the name was misleading
Freebies
Free Parking
Free Internet
Editor's Review
Updated Aug 10, 2016
Overview
This summertime college residence offers basic accommodations right on the Algonquin College campus from May to August. It's located a 5-minute drive from the Trans-Canada Highway and 16 minutes from Ottawa's city centre. The building is labelled "Student Residence" and it fronts onto Navaho Drive, across from the Student Centre.
The smoke-free property has 525 rooms and 5 floors. Rooms all offer two separate bedrooms each with a small TV with basic cable, a desk and lamp, a telephone, an oversize single bed with bedding and carpeted floors. There is als a full-size fridge with freezer compartment, a microwave, a kitchen sink (no stove top, no oven, no utensils, no coffeemaker, no tea kettle), a table and 2 chairs, and a bathroom with toilet, shower, hand soap, shampoo, towels and tiled floors (no living room with couch).
Common room amenities include free wired Internet, free local calls and air conditioning.
Free parking is available on site. Pets are welcome at no extra fee.
There is a cafe in the building that sells snacks and coffee. There are also restaurants, coffee shops and bars on site at Algonquin College. Guests will find a number of restaurants and a Tim Hortons within a 5-minute walk.
On-site amenities include a full community kitchen on each floor, a movie lounge, a sports lounge, a gym, a games room, a laundry room, a tuck shop, a BBQ, a courtyard, a beach volleyball court, a basketball court, elevators and meeting rooms.
Public transit is right outside the building. College Square offers a Loblaws, LCBO, bank, retail clothing and Home Depot, an 8-minute walk away. The Nepean Sportsplex (multi-ice surfaces, gyms, halls, a track, running/hiking trails and a large pool) is an 8-minute drive away. MacDonald Cartier Airport (YOW) is an 18-minute drive without traffic. (All travel times: Google Maps)
The Good
Reviews were somewhat mixed with some guests finding this residence to suffice for a short stay and some finding it not worth it.
more Guests who were comfortable at the residence found their rooms clean, large and appreciated the full-size fridge and microwave in the room and the separate bedrooms. Some said the residence has been updating rooms and the experience can vary based on the age of the room and bed.
The location was well liked. It was convenient to shops and restaurants and the highway for accessing downtown. A reviewer described bus #95 from Baseline Road as a convenient 24-hour direct public transit route to downtown. Some said it took 30-40 minutes to get downtown by bus.
The staff were well liked. They were described as hospitable, courteous, efficient and friendly--willing to help and providing a nice atmosphere.
Some thought it was good value for the price charged. These were often guests who were well informed about the property and were not expecting a typical hotel experience and those who liked having a small kitchen area and separate bedrooms.
Adding value to the stay were: ample free parking, good building and parking lot security, free coffee in the lobby, communal kitchens where guests could cook meals for their family, free pet stays and the nice quiet area surrounding the residence.
The Bad
Guests did not always enjoy their stay and there were many complaints posted online.
There were guests who did not like the rooms. These guests complained that the rooms had holes in the walls, smelled musty, had dirty and stained carpets were dusty or otherwise not well cleaned, the showers had very poor water pressure, the shampoo was of very poor quality, smelled like chemicals and didn't lather, towels were thin, the TVs were old and sometimes did not work or had few channels that were clear, the beds squeaked and the mattresses were thin or otherwise uncomfortable.
Many thought the beds were not double size but only a larger single bed.
Guests said the rooms lacked commonly expected amenities such as a coffeemaker, free coffee and tea, iron, ironing board, hair dryer.
Recent guests complained of rooms and the lobby area being uncomfortably hot. Some said the AC units could not keep up and some claimed they were locked and guests could not control the in-room temperature for that reason.
Wi-Fi was often reported as not working, although there was wired Internet available. One guest wrote, "The wifi does not work well enough for a business traveler. In particular, the college has blocked smtp traffic (presumably to prevent students sending spam the rest of the year). And another, "However, the residence only has wired Internet but not wifi. Sometimes you maybe able to get the wifi signal but it's unstable."
Housekeeping was poor. They were described as not showing up daily, not providing enough towels, toilet paper, soap, shampoo and cups and knocking on doors at 9:30 am.
Noise was sometimes an issue with sounds coming into the room from the hallways.
Some complained that parking was a fair distance away from the rooms.
Some complained that parking was a fair distance away from the rooms.
Some recent guests complained of very long waits to check in as their rooms were not ready.
Some felt misled by online advertising for this accommodation. Guests were expecting a typical hotel not a college dormitory and said the name was misleading.
Sources
TripAdvisor.com guest reviewers ranked this hotel #53 out of 69 Ottawa hotels based on 16 reviews.Booking.com guest reviewers rated this hotel 7.6 out of 10 based on 976 reviews.
Expedia.ca guest reviewers rated this hotel 3.4 out of 5 based on 646 reviews.
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Guest Reviews
Ranked by Guests
# 1385 Woodroffe Ave, Ottawa, ON